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The convenience of the location is great. Lots of salt is needed to deice all the roads in the Detroit/Michigan area. The main purpose of the salt there is for
by notlukesky 7y ago
The convenience of the location is great. Lots of salt is needed to deice all the roads in the Detroit/Michigan area.
The main purpose of the salt there is for deicing. Saves a bunch on transport costs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_salt_mine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_salt_mine
- redis_mlc 7y agoRoad salt destroys cars, but hey, Make Detroit Great Again (MDGA)! The drawback with sand is that it doesn't dissolve in water, so silts everything up.
- danans 7y ago> (MADA) Make America Detroit Again?
- walrus01 7y agoNext Robocop reboot?
- mayneack 7y agoFaster degradation of cars on the road might be an upside for Detroit.
- saberdancer 7y agoWhat is the alternative? Roads that become icy probably destroy cars as well, although in a more pinpoint kind of way. At least road salt doesn't cause a lot of fatalities.
- kijin 7y agoElectric coils under the pavement to keep the surface temperature above freezing. Unfortunately most cities can't afford it, least of all Detroit.
- bcraven 7y agoWhich cities use that technology?
- kijin 7y agoHolland, Michigan for one: https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_holland_spends_millions_to.html https://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/2016/02/why_hol...
- Omin 7y agoAs the article states, this system uses waste heat from a power plant transported via water.
- karmicthreat 7y agoThat system is pretty tiny though. It just covers the main strip downtown. Maybe 6 blocks.
- samatman 7y agoAs a sibling points out, these systems use process heat, not electricity. U of M has a steam tunnel system in Ann Arbor, which I believe only covers sidewalks, not roads.
- esotericn 7y agoSurely that's only workable for inside cities. I can't imagine a highway having a coil for hundreds of miles.
- glidej 7y agoSand, for traction, is usually the alternative. It's most commonly used in climates where it gets too cold for salt to be useful.
- huffmsa 7y agoIt does, but skidding off the road destroys them too. And throwing sand down really doesn't do much. Across the lake in Wisconsin we reuse the leftover brine from the cheese industry. Its more effective and more effective per unit used than straight salt. Takes the freezing point down to 0°F or lower. Combine that with how dry it gets here in the winter and you get a powerful combination of melting and sublimation.
- Scoundreller 7y agoAnd it’s on the Great Lakes for shipping cheaply. Salt has a sweet-spot where it works. Too warm and you don’t need it. Too cold and salty water freezes anyway. The rust belt is just right for using salt.
- cookingrobot 7y agoMaybe that’s also why it’s called the rust belt.
- inamberclad 7y agoIt's all the old steel-related industry mostly.
- malingo 7y agoThe same salt seam is mined underneath Lake Erie near Cleveland as well. Here are some photos: https://photos.clevescene.com/33468-2/ https://photos.clevescene.com/33468-2/
- whalesalad 7y agoAnd ruins the vehicles that the nearby auto industry produces. Planned obsolescence in an ecosystem format.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoI don’t see what other option there is if people want to be able to drive around in below freezing weather and precipitation.
- Boltgolt 7y agoHere in Sweden tiny sharp rocks, known as grit, are thrown on top of the forming ice. Works wonders
- SamuelAdams 7y agoInteresting! Can you link to any examples / info about grit? Maybe an amazon product page or something too?
- timc3 7y agoThat might be because salt loses effectiveness below -10C
- swebs 7y agoI've seen sand and gravel used a lot.